#he doesn't see himself as subhuman

[arcanemadman]

How exactly is Subhuman lyrical character assassination for Dante?

Ok. I'm not looking forward to writing this but…

So you've probably seen that there are some mixed opinions on this particular song, so allow me to clarify. I would like to preface this by stating that Subhuman is one of the few things in the world that I feel genuine hatred toward, which is either amusing to think about or outright pathetic. I actually can't listen to any part of the song without feeling anxiety or anger. As such, I have avoided listening to the song again.

First of, lets talk about the original version of the song. The original was sung by suicide silence, who at one point a popular deathcore band until the death of their main vocalist, after which they spiraled into disaster and alienating their fan base. Their version on the song, without exaggeration, sounded like pigs squealing. High pitched, badly mixed music by a washed out band who's new main vocalist also happened to be a pedo. These factors culminated into the song, upon being released, getting over 13,000 dislikes before the video was deleted from YouTube. Seriously, when people first did listens like you do they were, at best, laughing.

So they replace the vocalist, problem solved right? No. This is actually the second attempt by composer cody matthew johnson at a theme for Dante, the first being a remix of Devils Never Cry for Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, and is largely considered the worst and only bad version of the song. And when advertising this song on his website, he advertised it as the theme of "the foul mouthed anti-hero" Dante, AKA reboot Dante.

In other words, he made it for the wrong character. Johnsons reaction to the backlash was to throw a tantrum and saying he's "happy to stir the pot", ignoring the fact that the original version was actually painful to listen to (this isn't hyperbole, seriously don't take my word for it and listen to the original version and you'll get what I mean) and the fact that it was sung by a pedophile. Recently he also related the backlash he got to the abuse targeted at actress Lily Gao for her performance in the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is deeply insulting considering she was subjected to racist abuse and harassed off social media.

And even then, the song itself good for what it's supposed to be. As a character theme, it's character regression for Dante. It's an angry, spiteful song that goes on about how Dante struggles with this evil inside him, how he hates all demonkind and how he's a rage filled monster that tears through everything in his way. But that's not Dante. At one point, Dante did have anger towards demons and hate that part of himself, but his character ark in Devil May Cry 3 was accepting that part of himself and growing as a person. DMC3 is a prequel, mind you. In universe, he got over those feelings over 25 years ago.

When faced with demons, he often offers to show them mercy even if they don't accept, because he knows that just as any human can do evil, any devil can do good. He spares Trish in DMC1, a demon created for the sole purpose of killing him, and in turn she becomes his trusted friend. In DMC2, he refuses to let Lucia kill herself because her fear of hurting humans proves she's not a monster to him. In the anime, he's hired to kill a demon called Brad and instead finds him in a bar, talks with him to figure out what his deal was, and then helped Brad protect his human girlfriend and kill his demonic master. In fact, he's far more merciful to demonic enemies than his human ones, who he kills without ever offering mercy, because at its core those that give up their humanity are worse than those that never had it to begin with.

That's mainly it. The thesis statement of the entire series is this - The human ability to care for others, to love someone, be it family, friend, or romance. If you care enough to cry, THAT is what makes you human. Dante is powerful not just because of the demonic power of his father, but because of the human heart of his mother. He is the son of both Sparda and Eva, and he's proud of that. But the very title of subhuman contradicts the entire point of the series. It implies he is less than human, but he's not more human or more demon, he's both, and that's the point of him as a character. Vergil rejected his humanity, while Dante embraced it. He's reached an equilibrium in his soul and grown as a person, embodying both worlds as a devil with ability to cry. Subhuman doesn't focus on Dante's humanity at all, it's all about how he's inhuman.

You remember how in Devils Never Cry the harder and softer lyrics are separate and initially clash, representing his demon and human halves, but in the end they come together into a singular song, representing Dante's acceptance of both sides of himself. There's none of that nuance in this song.

And removing the character assassination, it's just not a good representation of Dante. As I said it feels angry and violent, but Dante is charming and stylish. Of course he does have some resentment to aspects of his life, at times wishing he could have a normal life, but he enjoys what he's got. With the other character themes, the lyrics feel like something the characters would say in battle; With Devil Trigger, I can see Nero smirking and shouting "Bang, bang, bang! Pull my devil trigger!" as he throttles his sword as his enemies charge at him. With Crimson Cloud, V talking in poetry all the time so "Saviour! Bloodstain! Hellfire! Shadow! Heaven on a landslide!" sounds like something he'd read out to himself as his demons tore up the battle. And with Bury the Light, Vergil would totally proclaim "I am the storm that is approaching!" before unleashing a devastating attack.

But with Dante, who taunts by throwing a rose at his enemies, laughing and pointing, and playfully beckoning at his enemies to keep trying their best, I can't see that person screaming at the top of their lungs in fury "YOU CANNOT KILL ME!" Dante isn't someone who feels the need to prove anything to himself or his enemies. It's part of his charm that powerful demons will fight him, expecting a respectful battle with the son of the legendary Sparda, but instead they get their ass beat by an idiot more interested in seeing what he can do with a hodgepodge of weapons than taking things seriously. And when he does get serious, it's more quite, closer to "you've got my attention and I'll make you regret it." It's too insecure. A better line would be something like "Just try to kill me!" but even then, it's still screaming. There's no subtlety here.

None of this is helped by the fact that the song is so plodding. The low BPM makes it feel plodding, and while I'm certainly no expert on music that sort of feeling hurts in a game as fast as DMC, especially for Dante, who while not as fast as Vergil is by far the most chaotic character to play as. Teleporting, swapping guns, swapping weapons, swapping styles, Dante has over 100 potential actions that can loop into each other freely. Subhuman doesn't capture how chaotic it feels to play as Dante. It's going for the power fantasy of Kratos, an unstoppable juggernaut as opposed to the power fantasy of a stylish showdown. You don't play as Dante to strike fear into demonkind, you play him to see just what bullshit you can get away with even in the most dire situations.

That is ultimately why Subhuman fails and betrays Dante as a character.

I'll admit, from my personal experience I tried everything to get myself to like the song. I listened to every edit trying to salvage it, every version that changed it up, all hoping that Dante would get the theme he deserved. But I think that's why I hate it so much now. I desperately wanted it to be good. But at it's core, the song is fundamentally flawed it what it sets out to do, represent Dante as a character, and it needed a full overhaul that was never realistic within the time frame of it being revealed to the public and the games release. Honestly, after what he did to Devils Never Cry they should never have given Dantes theme to someone as inexperienced as cody and his works before and since have been middling at best. But he was the real thing that killed subhuman for me. Anyone that listened to the original version knows it was BAD, but he acted like he was a visionary who was too smart for the rest of us and ignoring all criticism including, need I remind you, HIRING A PEDOPHILE. The recent thing with Lily Gao I find particularly infuriating because what she has been going through is unquestionably awful, yet he made it about himself. As if a white composer who complained about the whole thing on twitter suffered the same abuse as an asian woman who was chased off social media. That inability to self reflect on anything and blaming everyone that disagrees with you is just arrogance in the end.

I always get really angry whenever I think about this song. If I had the same passion for writing things I actually cared about I'd be an acclaimed author by now. I don't like how much I think about this song so much. As I said at the state hating a song this much is either amusing or pathetic. But Dante is a character that holds a certain importance for who I am so I care more than I should. I know not everyone had the same experience I have, or don't really care about the music so long as the game is fine, but the music in Devil May Cry has always been spectacular, and the character themes have been brilliant ways to prove who the characters are deep down. So for Dante, the face of the series, to be stuck with the worst one in the entire series in the grand return of the series until the next game comes around… it's fucking infuriating.

[immediatebreakfast]

We have read the Demeter's situation as a horror movie, as an exhausting job that drains the crew, and as an inexplicable travel that should have been normal if it wasn't for Dracula going through the crew like snacks.

But there is one thing that I ask myself: Dracula is a noble, a wealthy man in a position of power, and the Demeter crew are working class people who just wants to do their as good as possible so they can get paid at the end of the day.

Could Dracula's attacks relate to class, and explotation of the poor at the hands of the rich?

Since it seems that our resident vampire is very confident in his non-existent ability to direct a cargo ship with all of his coffins by himself. Dracula is going through the Demeter crew like they are expendable, and they are to him! Just human blood bags that are discharged the second they finish their "unskilled labor" because how difficult it would be to steer a boat of wood?

Nevermind that Dracula has been living in seclusion for god know how long, and this is probably the first time in centuries he puts a foot on a boat.

The Demeter crew have been "serving" a wealthy person part of the noble class that they are never going to see. A boss squeezing every single drop of their labor for his benefit while putting them in subhuman conditions in which none of them can work properly. Dracula doesn't see nor care that is thanks to these sailors he is so close to England.

On top of that, in their job the Demeter crew have probably seen many of their coworkers die in their travels, only for them to end up as a statistic at the eyes of their employers.

The only people who will mourn the Demeter crew are their families, and they will not see a single coin of compensation for the labor that killed the crew.

[captain-sodapop]

In the middle of season 7. Each rewatch, I feel like my focus goes to something new, and this time around, it's really sticking out to me how - because the show presents Sam through the lens of Dean - how Dean thinks there is something inherently wrong with Sam from the start. And that never changes. Like yes, Dean loves Sam, he really does, but but it's always something. If it weren't for the fact that Sam's psychic abilities and the demon blood (things he didn't ask for, by the way) made him different, it would be the simple fact that Sam does not buy into Dean's worldview. When Dean confronted Sam about Amy, when he called Amy a freak, it was heartbreaking to see Sam's hurt reaction to that. If Sam himself weren't dealing with severe mental illness due to his own trauma (which Dean finds freakish), he would be a freak simply by association by empathizing with Amy.

And speaking of Sam's hallucinations and mental health struggles in season 7 in particular (which, Dean obviously has his own struggles that deserve sympathy, but that's not what we're focusing on right now), it's all a repercussion of what Sam has been dealing with since the beginning of the show. We know that Sam has always felt like there was something different about him, and if you take John's journal into account and remember Lucifer showing him all the demons that have been following him his whole life in "Swan Song", then there's always been something...well, supernatural about him. Brady gets possessed, introduces him to Jess, he starts to get visions, he discovers he's psychic and has powers, that he's Lucifer's vessel, that "you didn't need the feather to fly, Dumbo, you had it in you all along"...then he goes to Hell, where his soul is stuck for months, being tortured by Satan himself. And because Cas brought him back without his soul, Dean's trust issues with him continue through season six and into season seven. He doesn't trust that Sam is stable. He doesn't trust that Sam isn't somehow wrong. Somehow a freak.

And it's not fair. It's so sad. You can understand, in a way, why Dean is wary. But Sam didn't ask for any of this. He does bear some responsibility in certain situations, yes, but he was forced into these things, or manipulated, or was simply born that way. There is nothing inherently wrong with the fact that he was born with these abilities.

It goes against Dean's worldview, though. It goes against the idea that his family should be all-in on what they do, that Sam should just fall in line, that the world is black and white and that there is something inherently wrong with people who have these abilities and differences that makes them less than human.

Remember when Sam got pissed at him for not telling him that Jack was planning to die in order to defeat Chuck? And Dean was upset that Sam asked ethical questions? So Sam, who is - according to many, including sometimes his own family - supposedly less than human, is the one asking and confronting these ethical questions, is pushing back against the popular worldview of the people he is associated with, and that pisses them off. They get upset that Sam pushes back. (God, if I'm not careful, I'm going to go into analysis of how Sam's hair represents his resistance.)

Look. Sam is the protagonist of the show. We see him through Dean's eyes, and because of Dean's worldview, the way we see Sam is skewed. And maybe that's the point. Maybe we're supposed to be questioning Dean more than people do. When Sam says in season eight that the trials are "purifying" him, that he always felt as if there was something wrong with him, we shouldn't be agreeing; we should be horrified at the fact that he has gone through life feeling subhuman. We should be questioning the world around him and the community he is a part of that simultaneously seems to detest his very existence.

The guy is literally part of a hostile environment, and every time he tries to break away, he gets guilted back into it. Either he serves the system, or it'll kill him.

[sepublic]

Like yeah they both had power fantasies they pursued but the opposing nature of those fantasies -and not just how they tried to achieve them- is key when it comes to Luz and Philip;

Because Luz just wanted to be herself, she wanted to be a witch, something that doesn't actually require others to suffer; Sure there's the "Now eat this sucka!!!" bit, but it's never emphasized and used very sparingly, with the main focus on Luz wanting to appreciate the wonders of the world around her, and focusing more on trying to make friends out of enemies than just condemning them; So Eat this Sucka becomes a necessary last resort, in a way. Luz tries to avoid picking fights and only does so for the sake of others, and even then has to confront whether that's appropriate or not.

Whereas Belos, his power fantasy explicitly calls for the harm of others; Which he justifies because they're 'evil', but he nevertheless wants for there to be evil people, he wants people to do wrong, so he can then hurt them. Kill them, even; He wants injustice to always exist and that's unsustainable. Belos doesn't want people to get better, he wants to punish them first and foremost, it's not his last but first resort, and he claims to be an aggressor on behalf of 'humanity' but never listens to actual humans. He desires an Us vs Them scenario, Belos is basically "It's not enough I should succeed, others must fail." He relies on hierarchy instead of wanting to uplift everyone else if he can.

And so you can see how these different power fantasies that Luz and Philip latch onto reflect who they want and choose to be, and become; With Luz wanting to engage with another world and respect it, learn to value and see the beauty in it, making friends with unexpected people in unexpected places and only kicking ass as necessary. Whereas Belos approaches everything from the entitlement of a colonizer who believes in his own supremacy and superiority to lesser, subhuman beings that he distances himself from, and never truly connects to.

So their dichotomy is a discussion of the nature of power fantasies and what they'd logically require in real life, but also an expression of who they are because of why they choose those fantasies, and how far they're willing to go to commit to them; Because Luz is willing to give up her fantasy for the sake of others (despite it being inherently less dangerous than Philip's, which he still clings to), because people's lives will always matter more than some fantastical achievement. The problem is that Luz thinks she necessarily has to make that sacrifice.

There's just a lot of interplay between wanting things for yourself and how that relates to selfishness, and what selfishness even IS, what makes it bad if it is, etc. The line between choosing to sacrifice others for yourself, VS having to prioritize your own health over pleasing others (such as society's expectations), even using self-defense against people who keep taking advantage of and threatening you. You should want to look after yourself and you should care about others, these are not mutually exclusive!!!

[aurae-rori]

hi friend, i am literally so glad i've found another dr. ratio enjoyer! you're literally such a great writer and I love your character analyses.

anyways, my curiosity is peaked, how is children of the city dr. ratio core?

First of all, thank you so much - haha, I'm glad that you enjoy my analyses and writings. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to get back to you - I had a few things to take care of, but I'm going to do a full analysis in your honour!

Analysis under the cut, because it gets really long. :)

"Sleep for a total of 800 hours per day And then drink a liter of milk Warm-up before you go play Only eat, or write Or pull the trigger with your right hand Only thing that's left Is to work on following commands"

I'm totally not projecting my gifted child trauma here, nuh uh... Anyway, my personal HC for Ratio is that his child might have felt monotonous being in classes that he was already too "intelligent" for. Learning things at a quicker pace than other children, absorbing knowledge up like a sponge - sure, the praise is nice, but after awhile, especially when you get to higher levels, intelligence isn't enough to carry you. You have to put diligence, effort, blood sweat and tears into what you're studying for, especially if you want to make a change, like how Dr. Ratio wanted to. It. must have gotten lonely, getting up only to do more researcher, eating only to go back to work. Following a schedule is wonderful, and he would have enjoyed the routine, but after being isolated from other people along with that, it might have made him feel subhuman or less than human for only being there for the studying of more knowledge. Eat, study, work, repeat. This is more of a personal HC rather than something canon, though. :)

"By the time you realize You'll be restrained to a desk And with your dreams on the floor, you comply Eyes chained to the test In 30 minutes, find a groom or bride Bonus if brunette In 90 hours, spill their insides Paint your room picturesque"

I feel like the prospect of romance is pushed onto children at a very young age - and that can be applied to Dr. Ratio. Who knows what romantic beliefs that he grew with? However, I believe this is less of him observing himself, but more of him seeing what the education system does to others, and how society molds others into the person that they "should" be, rather than what they want to be. Also, it could be a reference to academic trauma and placing all your self worth in your grades.

"Now it's time for another vendetta Going through the shelves Picking out my pre-written persona (ha-ah-ah) Children of the city sees only the neon stars Reflected upon the murky gutter sky Don't ask me why I desperately wish to be included in the city's night"

This is how I see Dr. Ratio holding a grudge against the Aeons and other figures of authority. We are all expected to be "good" and "well-behaved", and yet, we all look to the "city's night" - the approval of those who are in a higher position of us. We want to gain the approval and the praise of our parents, of our teachers - it's natural, after. We want to be included in the "city's night" - in Dr. Ratio's case, the gaze of Nous. He wants to be acknowledged by Nous and let into the Genius Society because his beliefs that were instilled into him as a child dictate that since he is hailed as a genius, he should be seen as one by the Aeons, right? However, I'd like to point out the usage of the words "neon stars" - stars are not neon. This implies that the stars are fake - I can also see this as a pointer to the idea of there system itself being fake, or societal "norms" being fake, as we are all unique.

"In four hundred thousand meters, turn right

Pick up a knife and stab a familiar warm body Learned to fight before I knew love or bitterness of coffee Snippy scissors cut down the strings I set myself free Only to figure out everything I chose was by proxy"

Dr. Ratio following orders until he doesn't. Fitting in until he gives up on it. Setting himself free from the chains of what is expected from him of other people, but not by the Aeons - no, that's something that still stays with him. However, I like to interpret the idea of a "familiar warm body" being his own childhood - killing the child that you used to be in favour of facing the future. Coffee is also something commonly regarded as students or workers using it to keep awake during long periods of work and study - it talks about how he has known to fight for himself, or fight for what he wants, before he was told to suck it up and just work for the sake of others, for the sake of the authority. However, this might feel scripted to him as well, with the mention of a "proxy" - it was a decision someone else made for him, maybe? Who knows? Maybe his selflessness was originally chosen by someone else, and drilled into him?

"As we suckled upon the nine millimeter pacifier Swallowing the fact that other than to expand We had no purpose As my ever-burning will to stay afloat backfires I now know I must be comfortable being Who I considered worthless"

This is definitely expanding on the idea of being raised to just be used by the authorities. Also, this can also be a representation of the way that he calls himself "mundane" - he was called a genius and raised as one, and now that Nous has not seen him, he must be "mundane" and he must come to terms that he is exactly what he wasn't called growing up. None of their words of praise have any meaning any more, because in the all seeing gaze of an Aeon, he is nothing.

"Follow the city's ribbon To a heart nobody seems to listen It takes my heart being broken and broken again (broken and broken again) To know that I am the reason why (the reason why) The sufferings never end"

As Dr. Ratio uncovers the truth of his childhood and the truth of why he was raised this way, the empathy that he has suppressed comes back up. And this is it - because he feels for others, because he is so incredibly human, that is the reason why his suffering does not end. He cannot detach himself like other people, like other geniuses, and treat life with little to no care. He cannot, because he loves, and that is his fatal flaw. He listens to his heart, as well as his mind, and that does not make him a genius in the eyes of an Aeon.

"Do not go home until you finish reading the value of E. 2.71 8281 8284 5904 5235 3602 8747 1352 6624 9775 7247 0936 9995 9574 9669 6762"

"E" is a mathematical constant, and therefore is logical. It's called the base of a natural logarithm, and while my knowledge in that area is limited, the fact that it is called a "constant" means that it cannot change, just like all numbers cannot. It might be a representation of the idea of Dr. Ratio trying again to fit in with others, only to fail once more, even though he knows all the rules. He was simply born in a different way, doomed from the start. It wasn't his fault.

He was just human.

You can also see this as Dr. Ratio observing the world as he grows up in an "apathetic" and "detached" way - as he pushes down his own emotions in favour of staring at his own success to help others, knowing that his empathy will not get him anywhere in terms of a cruel world. However, he cannot help it.

Ultimately, "Children of the City" is about how we are raised in a society that forces the idea of work on us ever since we are young. We do not get to cherish our childhoods nor our youth, and are immediately turned to the prospect of how we can provide value to society. We are raised in a never ending cycle like machines, to be puppets to corporations, to be slaves by the desire of the majority, to never have free will of our own.

Summoning @ironunderstands @pepper-demon @misty-lilies @sleepyburito :)

[bonaesperanza]

I think Lymond's early scenes with the Somervilles gain a lot more nuance and impact and emotional punch when you reread them.

Because, okay, on the first read they seem like kind, intelligent, respectable people who love each other very much - the warmth and connection and the instinctual wordless understanding between Gideon and Kate is immediately palpable - but at that point you don't really know enough about Francis to understand how they appear to him specifically. At this point he just seems like a callous cunt who takes pleasure in offending anyone who isn't Christian.

But think about it - artistic, intellectual boy grows up in a family full of constant acrimonious conflict (Mother bought a crate of books, Father burned it, they fought over it, Father drank...), his interests cnstantly belittled as too soft and his things smashed against walls until he learns to be vicious enough to defend himself. Father seems resentful about his very existence, angelic little sister has suicidal tendencies, Mother loves him but can be a manipulative bitch. He's a POW at sixteen, then groomed by an older woman, then sent to a probable death by that same woman. He's accused of treason over an incident that killed the sister, spends years as a slave suffering through every kind of abuse imaginable, tries coming back home but Father kicks him out because he doesn't believe him.

Ends up running a band of outlaws and considering how he later admits to hating the St. Mary's lifestyle - where his officers are all middle class intellectuals handpicked by himself - because he misses his music and his clever conversation and being friends with women? Can you imagine how he must have felt with the outlaws, where he, who used to read books on ethics for fun, had to constantly keep them entertained so they don't rape and pillage their way across their own countryside?

And then he goes to Flaw Valleys and sees a music room? And one of the first things to come out of Kate's mouth is how must not get many opportunities to play the harpischord with his kind of lifestyle, and how he must miss it a lot? She has no idea how much she's hit it right on the head.

And then he gets to know them, and they're... probably his Platonic ideal of a perfect family? He probably didn't think families like that existed outside of his own imagination (just compare them to every other family we see in the series). And then compare them to Francis's own interests and personality.

The husband is an accomplished musician, and the wife adores him for it and begs him to play every opportunity she gets. When he's in a mood, she knows how to draw him out of it skillfully and subtly and wittily and without being too intrusive. He, in turn, knows her well enough to anticipate her every need and delights in making her happy and giving her everything he can. There's palpable love and respect and understanding between them - they seem to understand each other wordlessly. They're both kind and empathetic and well-educated and keep themselves up-to-date on current events, on which they have nuanced and insightful opinions beyond picking a side. The wife is a master of witty conversation and enjoys and can keep up with Francis's own barbed back-and-forth. The husband and Francis come to an immediate understanding over politics despite technically being on opposite sides of a very complicated war. The husband's managed to keep his hands clean throughout it. Their daugher is already growing up to be a person of intellect, talent, and bold personality, because she's growing up surrounded with love and care and support and books and music and opportunities to be carefree and make messes and run around with the village boys.

He's barely twenty and he's been to hell and back so many times that he feels subhuman, and these picture perfect people take him in even though he's done nothing but treat them like shit, and they offer him their kindness and care and support and try to help him every way they can despite having zero reason to trust him or like him.

Can you imagine the kind of pedestal he'd put them on? It's no wonder he keeps coming back and maintains that friendship through everything. They're like the only stars he can see from his pitch-black gutter.

And I think this makes all his hand wringing over Philippa a lot more understandable, especially considering how he now sees himself as subhuman in ten additional ways after the extra trauma of the intervening years? On the first read you kind of just want to smack him because he's being so unreasonable, but really at that point you've spent so much time in Philippa's head and so little in Francis's that she's just Philippa to you (despite all the admiration she gets), while Francis is the one everyone is constantly panting over.

But to him she's part of a family so perfect and loving and healthy and aligned with all his ideals that he can't quite bring himself to believe that not only do they exist but they also like his miserable self, a family to whom he owes a great personal debt he can never repay (as he tells Kate in RC) and Philippa's the brightest and most impressive and accomplished member of that family. She is on a pedestal so high there's literally nothing he can do to measure up to what she means to him short of becoming a god.

And then consider how he later thinks that she's broken herself beyond repair over him. They're the only pure and flawless thing he knows of, the literal embodiment of how he dreams of people being in an ideal world, and he's destroyed it.

[invenblocker]

So a common talking point I see about DMC is that the true source of power for the half demons is humanity, and that's why Dante embracing his human half while Vergil shuns comes out on top at the end of DMC3.

Which does make sense. But I think there are two other important aspects. First of all, acceptance of self (self love?). At the start of DMC3 , they both view themselves as Demons, but while Vergil embraces this, Dante loathes it, which is why Vergil wins their first fight. Only in accepting himself does Dante become powerful enough to beat his brother, as with the element of self loathing being removed, Dante can gain his true power from embracing his humanity while Vergil's rejection of it leaves him behind.

And of course, as this has been pointed out countless times, the theme can also continue into DMC5, where Dante's SDT comes about when he uses what his father left him (Rebellion) with the manifastion of his father (Sparda), to fuse his human and demon halves. And with Vergil becoming the most powerful not by severing his human self from his demon self, but by fusing them back together (now with humanity as an undeniable part of his identity, forcibly reinserted after removal).

And this is all pretty common analysis that more or less any DMC fan can repeat verbatim, but I think another interesting angle can come in when we account for Nero.

Where Vergil rejects his humanity, Nero only accepts that part of himself, not caring for his demonic half (but not loathing it either) in the slightest. This is why in Nero's eyes, he needs Yamato. He doesn't think he has this power within himself and must get it from outside, which is why despite obviously having the toughness and regen factor required to get slapped around by demons and be fine, he can't regrow his arm after losing it.

But at the end of DMC5, Nero does not embrace humanity, he embraces that he is in fact a demon, and it is at that point he truly unlocks his Devil Trigger. And asides from regaining the powers of his Devil Bringer, he does also regain some of the powers he didn't unlock in DMC4 before obtaining Yamato, powers he didn't previously perceive as part of himself.

But if the person who viewed himself as human needed to accept his demon heritage, that indicates to me that what a demon-blooded human needs to embrace is not humanity, but rather the duality within them, the balance between demon and human. This reading coincidentally also works really well with Dante fusing his demon and human halves to create SDT, he already viewed himself as a demon (still doing so, if Subhuman is any indication) and already embraced his humanity, but only in fusing the two did he truly acknowledge their coexistence, a step Nero has yet to take, which is why I am looking forward to his journey in DMC6, which is definitely gonna get announced any second now, with great interest.

[klarolineashur1919]

La Tua Cantante Series

Part 2

Language

Alec pov

Note: "Quotations means Aisling signing" and no Quotations with writing like this are her thoughts.

"What are you doing?" Jane walking into Alec room surveying all the books around him. The titles completely perplexed Jane, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, every books with the same author of Helen Keller and on sign language.

"What does it look like I'm doing" Alec only lifts his eyes up for a second from his book as Jane goes behind his chair.

"It seems like you're researching subhumans" She chuckled looking down at the book he was currently reading Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism "I've never given much thought that their species could get even lower."

Alec merely shrugs as Jane leans down to him "why such the new found interest, is this why you've been locked away in your room all day."

Alec didn't know whether he wanted to tell Jane. He didn't even really know his own feelings on the matter. But he knew he didn't want Jane involved at the moment.

"Just something that piqued my interest" Alec tried to sound nonchalant but Jane knew he was lying to her. She stepped back from him confused. He's never lied to her.

"Hm" Is all Jane could muster as she stared down at Alec who was disinterested in her presence.

"Well.." Jane grinded her teeth not knowing what to say and a shock starting to set in. She didn't understand the reason behind this study.

"Will that be all Jane?" Alec said deciding to look at her.

"I suppose" Jane seethed calmly though the steam could be seen coming out of her ears as she stomped away out of the room.

Alec was surprised how he felt himself relax once she left. He never kept secrets from her but he felt a strange protective possessiveness when he thought of the pathetic little thing, who's bag sat in his desk drawer.

He'd been watching her for weeks. She hadn't left the hotel without her study abroad group since she got back from the hospital. And even if she wasn't with the little ants, she always had her two guide dogs with her.

He would go to see her and watch her from a distance until he started to get the nerve to get closer. He would return her purse he decided, it would be the gentlemanly thing to do. She was sitting a park with a red covered book and her dogs at both sides of her, it was sunset. The study group was playing a frisbee game at the other end of the park.

He came to the bench and her female dog immediately got up, trying to pull her to leave.

The other dog again protected her from him, making him smirk as he stood up on the bench barking. She placed her hands on the dog calming it down that she moved it to the other side of her next to the dog that was trying to leave.

She was a very perplexing creature to him. She looked in his direction and when he sat down her head moved to where he was. She didn't look afraid. He put her bag next to her and leaned against the bench.

"Are you an angel?" She signed, Alec actually had been reading up on asl. He understood she was asking him a question and thought it had something to do with a bird by the last sign. It made him laugh until he felt her fingers on his hand and flinched back. He looked at her horrified as her expression was curious. He couldn't believe she touched him. She sighed sadly. He realized she was trying to communicate with him but this is the first thing in his life, he found himself lacking.

He needed to learn bloody sign language.

Alec just sat there in silence, he felt anger at that he felt inadequate. Fidgeting and stomping his feet, crossing his arms, Alec didn't know how to handle his emotions with this. Since he's been a vampire, he's never not been able to do something.

Aisling & Alec pov

Aisling felt him move. The bench, the ground, his force in which he moved was stronger than most. He was very frustrated, she hoped maybe it was because he couldn't communicate with her, and not her.

I tried but maybe he doesn't like to be touched she thought. She got an idea.

Alec's light tantrum was interrupted when it looked like a light bulb visibly went off in the human's head, her body straightened and her lips perked. Alec raised his eyebrows as she went into her backpack. He let out a little chuckle when she pulled out a miniature chess board.

She crossed her legs on the bench, opening the game. She felt for a black king and a ivory queen, pulled them out and held them out to Alec.

Alec tilted his head at her. She held the pieces like a question but the question seemed too obvious. He could've been wrong though, he took the King.

Hmm a boy, but his weight makes me think he's older. He might be a man, let's see how he plays.

They played and she wasn't half bad... if she wasn't up against Alec. He enjoyed watching her think, she carefully planned each of her moves. She had to feel where all the pieces were. She actually impressed him in a way. He would think because she was blind that she was at a disadvantage but she proved him wrong if again, she wasn't up against him. He was toying with her, he's played this game so many times that he could counter every move.

I would say he was ninety if I hadn't slightly felt his hand. Am I playing with a chess prodigy? Or is he a archangel or demon that's lived a thousand years and spent all those years playing chess. Aisling's mind was very fantastical. But she did spend most of her time reading books. She was reading Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and a book she would rather get back to with how the game was going. She smiled maybe Ill have a romance with this stranger. Ha, my idea of romance is playing chess with a male stranger who's currently winning mercilessly. But he did save my life.

Alec pov

Alec stared at her the entire time, wondering if she even knew. Suddenly her smell started to make his throat constrict. This is the longest he's every been with a human in this close of a proximity. The smell of her, filled his nose and he started to become painfully aware of it. It didn't smell like meat or an animal like he usually compared to the human smell. Her's was sweet, he could taste it in his mouth.

Why did this happen so suddenly? It just hit him but he didn't want this to happen. He wanted to stay with her. He didn't understand what was happening, is this what happened when you were with a human too long? He really looked at her now, analyzing her. Her unique eyes, her cute pixie hair and her pink lips. Maybe that is where he would take the first- stop he needed to stop..

One move he took her king and got up.

Instinctively he went into a run.

What is this? Why was he allowing the burning feeling of not feeding on her? She's food. But he couldn't go for the kill. He never had a feeling of two sides inside him. One telling him to keep running get as far away from her as possible and the other telling him go back to rip her apart. Was one side a conscience? If he was human he'd be panicking but he wasn't he was Volturi. Running from a human.

He screamed angerily making it to the hallway of the entrance corridor of his home.

"Alec what is it?" Heidi happened to be there, her eyes wide, terrified. Alec Volturi never showed emotion, let alone blind rage. He was always calm and collected. He pushed past her, "Get me someone to eat now" he made it to his room.

He destroyed it, over 900 years of items gone in a matter of minutes. He sat there, thinking of her. Pondering until through grunts, groans and banging his head on the wall, he finally came up with the answer. The unspeakable answer. That pathetic little thing. How could that pathetic little thing be the one?

Alec gave the most quiet whisper "Mio cantante."

[illegiblewords]

Honestly justice for Lahabrea getting dehumanized both in-universe and by fans on a meta level for how he emotes in response to trauma.

We know he acts weird through the game. We know he genuinely cares about others from ancient times up through the present. He isn't a sadist and he's willing to put himself through hell in order to keep others safe.

People haven't been looking at the expressions and situations when conflict happened between him and Erichthonios with a shred of empathy.

"Oh, Erichthonios was manipulated heavily by his mother. Maybe he took Lahabrea trying to give him tools to protect himself in the maximum security prison as overly critical when the guy just didn't want him to get hurt while he was there."

"Hm. The times we hear Lahabrea actually say something negative to Erichthonios in-game tend to involve Erichthonios assuming the worst of him or being reactive on very personal subjects. I wonder why he might be frustrated or upset about that. I mean he sacrificed his relationship with his son because he thought Erichthonios would be happier with the false memory of his abusive mother than his still-living father. Surely that was what he wanted. Gosh, weird how he explicitly says Hephaistos' deepest desire wasn't to raise himself high but to have his family back. I wonder what that could mean?"

Archaeotania being held at the Words of Lahabrea for study and breaking out despite Lahabrea being present trying to contain it? Couldn't have a thing to do with not wanting that near Erichthonios in Pandaemonium. All those concept statues for Zodiark and emphasis about how the place specializes in phantomology? The creation of protective entities? Just coincidence surely. The NPC outside the dungeon said it was silly to think anyone could be in trouble at Akademia Anyder because Lahabrea never needs help with anything and is infallible. That's not an insane amount of pressure to put someone under. Seeing Lahabrea unable to do something couldn't possibly have ramifications before Zodiark's summoning either. Lahabrea being known to have been self-harming throughout the Ardor with body hopping is just a weird, quirky, evil thing he did. Lahabrea was probably a complete monster and did terrible things to Thancred's body while possessing him because he is a subhuman evil baddie who just does terrible things for the sake of it. Never mind when we catch him in a moment with his guard down at The Waking Sands he's slumped over exhausted and waves you away saying he's just tired. You know in his head he was cackling evilly and taunting Thancred, who he specifically chose to possess because they shared a lot in common and it would be easier.

Lahabrea laughs at inappropriate situations sometimes and struggles to emote at other times, and you know that never happens with trauma. Couldn't be hysteria or dissociation. Couldn't be that he doesn't feel safe expressing shit around people who are looking to do him harm.

The Scions knew what they were about when they called him an 'it' and were excitedly talking about how they've learned how to murder Ascians.

Canonical tempering that we know nobody could resist? Oh no that would never be a relevant factor in any of this. It's only horrifying if it happens to a sundered person. Venat's distinct summoning method created after Zodiark doesn't temper, so that means nothing else could possibly temper anyone either. Let alone Zodiark, the first and most powerful primal ever summoned without safety rails.

:|

[barrel-crow-n]

Kaz's gender

I already talked about this a lil in the tags of my sexuality post but my thoughts are complex so I feel the need to really dive into what I believe with Kaz and his gender expression and why.

First of all: pronouns. I feel like Kaz uses he/they/it.

He because he aligns himself with masculinity. He/him is his preferred and what he uses.

They is also one of the preferred ones. He/they is fine, he/him or they/them is also fine, they don't really mind.

And Kaz likes it because it feeds the whole "what is he? Is he even a person? Is he a demon?" It makes him seem less human, more demonic, and he revels in it.

Kaz definitely goes for a more masculine vibe, but honestly? They also aligns themself as other, as demonic. They're not really anything like all of these people. Even his dark mercher suits make him look like a dark stain on the city, a nightmare manifest. Sure, he looks respectable, but the eyes, the corpse-like face, the "sharp glass boy of deadly edges" thing he has going on, makes him look more subhuman, almost undead. Which fits his whole Kaz Rietveld died in the harbour and was reborn as Kaz Brekker thing.

Gender wise, I don't think they labels themselves. They lets people talk and theorise. "He's obviously a man" "They're nothing like us" "Have you seen it?? That's not even a person!" When one of the crows asks they just tells them something theatrical like "I'm the demon under people's beds, merchling" "I'm the thing in your closest, Nina dear" "I'm people's nightmares made manifest, the personification of this city. I am crime made a person, I am horror in the flesh." But they never actually answers the question. They're not really sure. He knows that he uses he/him pronouns the most, alongside they/them, but he doesn't feel like a boy, not really. He hasn't really ever been like the other boys, even as Kaz Rietveld, much less as Kaz Brekker. Always a little odd, a little more on the quiet side. Analytical, searching, constantly watching. Unnerving.

He doesn't mind terms like boy and man but prefers demon and monster because he's silly like that and it gives him a rush. I feel like he'd hate the word lad.

I also think their gender identity is explicity linked to his rebirth as Kaz Brekker. They created themselves, almost entirely from scratch. And so they pondered it, thought it over. They decided that they liked it to an extent but only in certain scenarios. He uses he/they interchangeably, but also not.

As Dirtyhands Kaz sees themself as it. A separate persona. As Kaz Brekker, it's they/them but he only associates the two because they only realised they liked they/them after the rebirth. As Kaz Rietveld it's he/him. It's another way of separating himself into different parts. But Kaz Brekker is still Kaz Rietveld, no matter how much they try and deny it. Kaz Reitveld isn't really a persona the same way Dirtyhands is. It's who he is. Kaz Rietveld is a part of Kaz Brekker, and Kaz also uses he/him alongside they/them

[phoenixofheaven]

Okay two more of aus of aus. Firestar is forced to follow in his father’s footsteps and service cats. He becomes taken in by one whose name is Onewhisker. Unfortunately his heartbreaks when he learns Onewhisker not only already has a mate but he is also using another cat named Smoke services. Firestar also doesn’t appreciate Onewhisker declaring he loves him before treating him as subhuman in public. Firestar tries to keep himself busy but Onewhisker keeps taking him. One day Graystripe arrives and is instantly enamored by Firestar. He dreams of taking him with him and living out their days together.

Ooohhh

Here, Firestar would probably be serving Onewhisker while he works at the palace for the king. Onewhisker is a minor noble cat who only spends some of his time at the castle.

...

While at the palace, Firestar meets Onewhisker when he is called to the castle for buisness. He and Firestar cross paths and the lord is charmed by the servant. From then on, each time he's at the palace, Onewhisker visits Firestar quite often.

Firestar begins to fall for Onewhisker. He is so charming and he can't help but dream of him taking him far away from this place. The lord also talks constantly about he's lonely without a mate and Firestar just wants to keep him company since he's been so nice to him. His wish comes true and the next time Onewhisker comes, he takes Firestar with him.

For sometime, things seem happy. Onewhisker gives him everything he desires and even let's him run the household. He comes to visit quite often. Very soon they are lovers. Overtime, Firestar gets the idea that Onewhisker will marry him. He is so excited and thinks he's found true love ...

Then a white molly comes to the house and is confused as to why he's in charge when she is Onewhisker's mate.

The white molly, who is named Whitetail, patiently explains to Firestar that Onewhisker has had a mate this whole time. Firestar is heartbroken, but understands. Whitetail lets him stay while he plans to confront Onewhisker. When the lord comes by again, his mate rips him a new one.

Despite not liking the palace, Firestar moves back. He then meets a fellow servant named Storm. She asks him what his relationship was like with Onewhisker and he tells her the truth. Storm, now confused, says that she is also Onewhisker's lover and that she lives with him in their house. Firestar now learns that Onewhisker has another house and has been keeping Storm there, ignorant of him and Whitetail.

When Onewhisker comes back to see Firestar, he is turned down. Even when Firestar confronts him about Whitetail and Storm, Onewhisker brushes the pain he feels off and tells him to just ignore that.

Firestar does not. He is disgusted with how he so easily brushes them aside.

Firestar tries to remain distant, but Onewhisker keeps calling on him. Firestar realizes that he is only being used for Onewhisker's satisfaction and not because he truly loves him.

Moons into this miserable affair, a new cat comes by. Graystripe, son of a servant, meets Firestar while in the garden. He's very kind and charming, but Firestar doesn't want to be sucked into another mess.

Overtime, Graystripe proves himself to be way different from Onewhisker. He helps him out with his chores, enjoys his company, and even helps keep Onewhisker away.

Firestar learns how to slowly trust Graystripe. He starts to dream of going back to Earth.

Onewhisker still tries to pursue Firestar. Firestar's patience wears out and decides that he needs to leave the place for good. He thinks of taking Graystripe with him, but is just worried that he won't agree. He doesn't want to leave him behind. He eventually brings himself to ask if he could help him escape.

Graystripe is hesitant at first, as his family is still up here, but later agrees when his mother decides to head back home to Saturn. They make their plans and prepare to leave. The day before he leaves, Onewhisker calls on him again. Firestar comes to him, but tells him that he is ending this relationship for good. He calls him out for how he treats his mate and Storm. He also tells him that he knows he only sees him as one of his toys, not a full cat. He says that he hopes to never see him again and that he hopes Storm and Whitetail see the kind of cat he is. Onewhisker is furious at his words, but Firestar walks out on him for good without giving him time to respond. Knowing that tomorrow, he'd finally be free of him.

That night, Firestar and Graystripe escape the castle. They make their way to the moon and sneak onto a ship being sent to the Sky islands. Even though that's not home and he'll have a long way to go when they got there, Firestar is happy to be going back to Earth.

After a long journey, Firestar and Graystripe come to the island. Safe now, Firestar learns to love again and finally allows himself to fall in love Graystripe. Graystripe returns his feelings and promises to love him to the end of his days.

He keeps that promise.

They go on to live a happily ever after. :)

(They really deserve it)

[redsandspirit]

Matthew Stover ruined Dooku

It is perhaps generally accepted that Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is one of the best books ever written in the Star Wars universe, if not the best. It's not hard to see why, since in many ways the story is head and shoulders above the movie, and Anakin Skywalker is, in my opinion, better captured by the author than anywhere else in the Expanded Universe. Still, I can't say that I was completely satisfied with the novel. Count Dooku is one of my favorite EU characters and I was saddened by how he was portrayed by Stover.

Xenophobia

Matthew Stover's Darth Tyranus is a terrible xenophobe, who never fails to remind the reader of this even during conversations with his colleagues such as Grievous and Darth Sidious. He deeply believes that creating the Empire of Man is what he was born to do? Seriously? Dooku is so evil in this book that it seems as if he would have been able to carry out all of Palpatine's plans exactly to the smallest detail without the participation of Palpatine himself. I think Stover here erases the complexity of the character that Jude Watson and Sean Stewart were able to create, and that's something we'll come back to.

A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the Republic he so despised. The government he would serve would be Authority personified. Human authority. It was no accident that the primary powers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems were Neimoidian, Skakoan, Quarren and Aqualish, Muun and Gossam, Sy Myrthian and Koorivar and Geonosian. At war’s end the aliens would be crushed, stripped of all they possessed, and their systems and their wealth would be given into the hands of the only beings who could be trusted with them. Human beings. Dooku would serve an Empire of Man. And he would serve it as only he could. As he was born to. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

In the novels written before Revenge of the Sith, we saw many important episodes from Dooku's past, and there were no premises for xenophobia. As a child, he was constantly dealing with other sentient species in the Jedi Order, and his father figure was a literal gremlin. One of Dooku's childhood friends was Eero Iridian, who is also not human. Darth Tyranus shows some remorse due to the fact that he and Darth Sidious took advantage of the Troxans (a non-human species) to drain the Republic's resources. This definitely doesn't fit with the way in RotS Dooku gleefully imagines crushing non-humans under the new government.

“These are the envoys from Troxar,” his Master said. How could he know? Dooku didn’t ask. Darth Sidious knew. He always knew.“They are considering surrender,” Dooku said. “They claim they have a resistance planned, ready to rise in insurrection when the clone troops withdraw.” “No!” the flickering figure said sharply. “The war has already damaged the planet too much to make it worth saving. Its only value now is to chew up more troops and resources. Tell them they have to fight on. Promise them reinforcements—tell them you will be deploying a new fleet of advanced droids to retake the whole system within a month, if only they can hold on. Explain that such weapons will not be put in the hands of those who surrender.” “And when the month passes, and no reinforcements arrive?” “Help will come within another month at most. Promise them that, and make them believe it. I’ve shown you how.” “I understand,” Dooku said. How casually we betray our creatures. The hooded figure cocked its head. “Having an attack of conscience, my apprentice?” “No, Master.” He met the hooded figure’s hideous eye. “It was their own greed that brought them to you,” he said. “In their heart of hearts, they always knew what they were getting into.” - Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, 1

Technophobia

The next uncharacteristic trait that was added to the character is technophobia. Anakin Skywalker's prosthetic arm disgusts Dooku, and he almost spits bile while talking to Grievous. The aristocrat hates not only cyborgs, but also ordinary droids, calling them “repulsive” and hoping that they will be destroyed along with the General.

“Which is precisely,” Dooku said meditatively, “why it might be best if I were to kill him, instead.” “Are you so certain that you can?” “Please. Of what use is power unstructured by discipline? The boy is as much a danger to himself as he is to his enemies. And that mechanical arm—” Dooku’s lip curled with cultivated distaste. “Revolting.” “Then perhaps you should have spared his real arm.” “Hmp. A gentleman would have learned to fight one-handed.” Dooku flicked a dismissive wave. “He’s no longer even entirely human. With Grievous, the use of these bio-droid devices is almost forgivable; he was such a disgusting creature already that his mechanical parts are clearly an improvement. But a blend of droid and human? Appalling. The depths of bad taste. How are we to justify associating with him?” - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Dooku nodded judiciously to himself, frowning down at the translucent blue ghosts slinking toward Palpatine. “Sound the retreat for the entire strike force, General, and prepare the ship for jump. Once the Jedi are dead, I will join you on the bridge.”“As my lord commands. Grievous out.” “Indeed you are, you vile creature,” Dooku muttered to the dead comlink. “Out of luck, and out of time.” He cast the comlink aside and ignored its clatter across the deck. He had no further use for it. Let it be destroyed along with Grievous, those repulsive bodyguards of his, and the rest of the cruiser, once he was safely captured and away. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Why doesn't this make sense? As with xenophobia, the previous books and comics do not contain any hints that Dooku has disdain or hatred towards people with prosthetics and cyborgs. Moreover, when Grievous proposed using Geonosian technology on the Jedi Padawans for experimental purposes, Dooku approved the idea. Not to mention, the Sith Lord enjoyed Grievous' training.

Grievous had been a delight to train, as well. - Labyrinth of Evil, 22

Love and friendship

Next, Stover gaslights the reader by talking about the friendship between Dooku and Lorian Nod. Because if we go back to Legacy of the Jedi, it turns out that Dooku wasn't such a bad friend. He cares about Lorian and tries to be careful with his words so as not to hurt his feelings. Then after Lorian betrayed Dooku by blaming him for stealing the holocron, did Dooku worry about his reputation? Sure, but what unsettled him was that he was betrayed by someone so close to him. Even after what happened, he considers Nod his friend and cannot decide to refuse his request.

He doesn’t remember quite when he discovered this; it may have been when he was a young Padawan, betrayed by another learner who had claimed to be his friend. Lorian Nod had said it to his face: “You don’t know what friendship is.” And he didn’t. He had been angry, certainly; furious that his reputation had been put at risk. And he had been angry at himself, for his error in judgment: trusting as an ally one who was in fact an enemy. The most astonishing part of the whole affair had been that even after turning on him before the Jedi, the other boy had expected him to participate in a lie, in the name of their “friendship.” - Revenge of the Sith, 3

His best friend had betrayed him. Throughout the years at the Temple, he could always depend on Lorian. They had shared jokes and secrets. They had competed and helped each other. They had quarreled and made up. The fact that this person could betray him shocked him so deeply he felt sick. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Dooku didn't know what to say. He wasn't prepared to lie, but he couldn't say no to his friend. So he said nothing, and, after a long while, the two friends fell asleep. Legacy of the Jedi, 3

Was Dooku the perfect friend? Of course not, and his pride played a role in escalating the conflict, as did Lorian’s envy, but to reduce everything to the words that “Dooku was different and did not understand friendship” I think is a monstrous simplification. The loss of his friend played a big role in Dooku's life, and that's how the story ends.

Lorian had been wrong. Dooku's heart hadn't been empty. He had loved his friend. But he had changed. Lorian had betrayed him. He would never believe in friendship again. If his heart was now empty of love, so be it. The Jedi did not believe in attachments. He would fill his heart with nobility and passion and commitment. He would become a great Jedi Master. Legacy of the Jedi, 6

We further learn that Dooku cannot care about the feelings of other beings and does not even see those around him as entirely real. Now, I don't by any means think that characters with these traits are a bad thing, or that you can't do something interesting with them, but that's not Dooku. We've seen how important his relationships with some of the other characters are to him (there's a whole novel written about him and Yoda), and that he cares to some extent about the feelings of those around him. Moreover, Stover will not explore these new traits, because Dooku will die in the next chapter anyway.

He is entirely incapable of caring what any given creature might feel for him. He cares only what that creature might do for him. Or to him. Very possibly, he is what he is because other beings just aren’t very … interesting. Or even, in a sense, entirely real. For Dooku, other beings are mostly abstractions, simple schematic sketches who fall into two essential categories. - Revenge of the Sith, 3

Jedi Order

Stover's Dooku ideal Jedi Order would forcibly remove Force-sensitive children from their families. Perhaps it's just my opinion, but it seems strange in light of the fact that his rejection trauma, as described by Sean Stewart, is related to his parents and the Jedi Order.

And that Fist would become a power beyond any Jedi’s darkest dreams. The Jedi were not the only users of the Force in the galaxy; from Hapes to Haruun Kal, from Kiffu to Dathomir, powerful Force-capable humans and near-humans had long refused to surrender their children to lifelong bound servitude in the Jedi Order. They would not so refuse the Sith Army. They would not have the choice. - Revenge of the Sith, 2

Ultimately, I can make the case that the ending of Yoda: Dark Rendezvous may have served to develop Dooku and make him even more bitter, but that doesn't justify the radical personality transplant Matthew Stover performed. And now, I often see these lines used to say that Dooku was always pure evil, had no good intentions and was always pretending, and also see questions like "as a human supremacist, what did Dooku think of Yoda?" And how can we know? All of these things were added to the character at the last minute and didn't match anything we'd seen before. This is not my Dooku.

[candyrockpop]

A Deep Dive

      Merfolk!Eddie Dear x GN!Reader

                  CW/TW -- Cussing, mentions of the ocean, swimming, deep diving, being stranded, near death experience via drowning, unknown sea creatures, possible large sea creature, mermaids

                             Summery:   You are participating in a deep sea exploration when something goes terribly wrong. You black out and when you wake up you're on an island, stranded, and are now in the company of a merfolk who doesn't speak your language. The sun is setting soon and you desperately need shelter, but this merman seems to have a delivery for you...

       “Gods, why did I sign up for this?” I thought as I descended into the deep waters of the ocean. I was about 1737 ft (about 529.44 m) down and counting, and my body was hurting pretty bad from the amount of pressure. It’s a miracle that my gear has survived this long and this deep. Hell, it's a miracle I've survived this deep! “Come in diver, are you alive and safe?” Echoed the earpiece in my ear.  

       Somehow, three years ago, someone invented an earpiece and oxygen tank duo that allowed someone to dive to extremely deep waters without damage to the equipment. Some believed that it was a witch that made it, others thought it was a hoax, but it didn’t matter since it worked.  

       That was how I got here, far too deep in water that could potentially kill me. “I’m here. All seems safe, I think.” I spoke, but of course, I jinxed myself. After I spoke a low rumble began, and I swore I could feel it in my chest. All a sudden the chord above me snapped, sending me deeper into a seemingly bottomless ocean.  

       I panicked and tried to swim up to the surface but my oxygen tank was running low and if I went up too fast it could kill me. I was stuck. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me, either. I tried to look around, maybe there was a cave nearby? I didn’t find anything and I couldn't help but think, “Is this how I'm gonna die? Stuck in the ocean where no one will ever find my body?”  

       I heard the beeping of my oxygen tank. It ran out.

       I couldn’t breathe, there was no air left.  

       I blacked out.

       I woke up coughing. Did I drown? Is this the afterlife? I reached up to check my pulse, but I still had a heartbeat. I must still be alive, then, right?  

       I looked around, noticing I was on a beach. It seemed like an island since there was no sign of life other than animals and a person peeking out of the water.

       ...A person peeking out of the water? My head jerked towards the ocean, eyes skimming the surface before landing on a man's head above the surface of the water. “H-Hey! Can you help me? I don’t know where I am!” I shouted to try and get him to talk since his attention was already on me. It didn’t work. He turned and swam away, leaving me alone. I sighed and my shoulders slumped as my head fell into my hands.  

       I heard a splash and quickly looked up. The man...was back...

       Holy shit, he's a mermaid. “Holy shit you have a fucking tail!” I exclaimed without thinking. He looked at me hesitantly before nodding. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself a little before looking him over. He seemed to have some sort of seal tail, but I didn’t recognize the species. His tail was white with grey freckles, though some colorful freckles, too. His upper half was orange with red hair, too. Not any sort of human, or at least a subhuman species, then.

       He made a series of clicking noises and looked worried. I must've zoned out. “Uh, do you know how I got here...?” I were hesitant to ask, but it had to be done. He nodded and made some more clicks, pointing towards himself with a grin. I looked at him, surprised and confused, “So, wait, you saved me? You didn't just see me here and decide to say 'hi!' or something?” He nodded again. He seemed to understand me considering he was answering me okay.  

       “Okay, so am I near any sort of human civilization...?” I questioned. He shook his head with a frown. I sighed and tried not to laugh out of something akin to frustration. I groan, “Right, I was exploring the deeper waters of the ocean before the chord snapped. Wait,” I paused to look at him cautiously, “how did I survive if I was that deep with no oxygen...?” He at least looked sheepish before clicking more.

       He seemed to blush before getting too flustered and jumping back into the water. "Great, now I'm alone, there’s no shelter, and its beginning to get dark." I stood up and exhaled. “Alright, let's see if I remember anything from those TikTok videos, I guess.” I walked to tree line, swatting bugs out of my face and making sure to pay heed to my surroundings and where i stood.

       I didn’t walk much further, not wanting to get lost. I made a makeshift tent out of sticks, leaves, more sticks, and broken tree limbs with the leaves attached. “Gods, I hope this works, or that it doesn’t rain...” My thoughts trailed off as I heard more clicking noises in the distance. I groaned quietly, turning around and walking back towards the beach. I made sure to mark the entrance, or at least where I walked, to get to my makeshift tent.  

       The merman was back, and he seemed to have a sort of messenger bag with him. It was an array of colors, and I don’t know how it was so many different colors since it looked to be made out of seaweed. I mean, I can understand the greens, reds, and maybe the yellows. The blues and purples on the other hand... “You know what? I'm just gonna stop asking questions right now...” I muttered under my breath. The Mer tilted his head. I shook my head in response and he just started pulling things out of his bag.  

       Were...were those fucking boxes?!

       “What the actual hell...? How do those even...? I...” I was so confused. How in the hell did they even fit in there? Was it a magical messenger bag? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was considering mermaids exist. He pushes the boxes towards me with a smile. I cautiously look at the small label on it. It is addressed to me.  

       Okay, fuck this, this is creepy! I stare at the box for a few minutes, just contemplating on opening it or not. I don’t know whats in that box, for all I know it could kill me! Then again, what if it's somehow something useful...?

       I cannot actually be considering this...

Hello! Happy pride month! I'll take this moment to say I'm a proud gender-fluid omnisexual! 🏳️‍🌈

I hope everyone is doing good, and if you aren't I hope that it gets better soon. I hope you enjoyed reading and thank you for doing so. I have a hard time writing Eddie normally so I tried something else instead. And one last thing, this is 1,064 words. It doesn't look like it, but it is.

[laesas]

did you ever make a post about pete not liking tankhun ? i know you mentioned it a few times in your tags but i don't remember seeing a post. (i share your opin ions.)

I definitely toyed with the idea of meta or a gifset but I didn't ever make a full post! I love unrequited love and I ESPECIALLY love the extremely rare platonic version which Tankhun and Pete absolutely nail in my opinion!

There are loads of moments where Pete's smile drops around Tankhun very quickly, or he insults Tankhun behind his back. Instead of laughing things off like Arm and Pol, he almost has a wincing fear-response to Tankhun, which we don't really see at all from the other bodyguards.

I think that Tankhun likes to think of himself as being close friends with his bodyguards, and he does genuinely show a lot of open affection for Pete and eventually concern for his safety. But I think ultimately for Pete, Tankhun is just a part of Pete's job, and over time resentment has built up until he thinks of Tankhun as one of the *worst* parts of it. I definitely don't think he resents Tankhun enough to hurt or endanger him, but that's about as far as it goes, there's certainly very little love there.

Something about that dynamic is just particularly brilliant, especially when combined with Pete's eventual defection from Tankhun's side to Vegas'. He chooses a man who has beaten and tortured him over a man who showers him in affection and throws parties on his return.

I utterly adore Tankhun but I think as a character that's grown up in a gilded cage, he doesn't really understand that what Pete needs is a sense of his own autonomy rather than being dragged to "fun" "lets cheer up Pete" parties that Tankhun has demanded on his behalf. At least with Vegas he *chose* to go back, he handed Vegas the ropes, let him lock him back up again. Even before he develops feelings for Vegas, Pete has clearly felt like a subhuman pet for Tankhun and the main family for a long, long time and I think ironically Vegas acknowledging Pete's humanity is the tipping point for him.

I think even without their nascent romantic love as a factor, Pete would always choose Vegas. Because despite the threat of suffering, he offers a sense of freedom that Tankhun's gilded cage does not. It all makes for an incredibly interesting betrayal, and makes Pete choosing Vegas over Tankhun all the more pointed. By choosing to be Vegas' pet, he chooses to be human.

[dracomort]

Hi I have two questions why is Tom a beta thematically and from another post how does Tom base his identity off of his family?

It's sort of like when I said fem!Tom would be a Thatcherite, not a feminist. In canon, Voldemort is a far-right extremist who wants the most privileged members of wizarding society (the purebloods) to maintain and expand their power. He grows up poor and disadvantaged and instead of becoming an advocate for people with similar upbringings to him, he aligns himself with people who would have spat on him in the street. (To note, I don't believe this is simply strategic or even from a position of shame and status chasing, rather he just doesn't see himself as having anything in common with the powerless.)

Just as HP is magical racism, ABO is magical patriarchy. An extreme, bioessentialist society where those who bear children are at the bottom of the pecking order and often treated as subhuman, while those hyper-masculine characters are at the top. Betas are somewhere in the middle, not suffering the disadvantages of Omegas but also not reaping the benefits that Alphas do. No matter how well they might be able to present themselves like Alphas, they will never be one of them. That's why I see Tom aligning best with Betas. He isn't of the most advantaged class (purebloods), but he isn't of the most disadvantaged one either (muggle-borns). He's somewhere in between and doesn't care about stepping on the little people to rise to the top.

As for how he bases his identity off his family... well, Chamber of Secrets. Need I say more? Lol. Tom figured out what his bloodline was known for and made it his whole personality. And of course Half-Blood Prince:

HBP13

HBP17

[gaytruckerthoughts]

wow so today, Aug 26 2024, we had the displeasure to meet a homophobe in this truck yard. it's now 2:54 pm, the below photos are from 2:13-2:17pm. writing all this down so our company can pull the dash cam footage if necessary. footage of the dude being a literal indecent exposure type offender should be from a little before that.

also, i tend to unpredictably dissociate, so i want to document everything somewhere

pictured are the main offender, and his aging driving partner (who was smart enough to keep quiet in front of us, so was probably the one to come up with 'those bitches cut us off' story). cropped out is the truck yard employee that they waved down after the fact and was just doing his job.

anyways, one of the two people we've seen pissing out in the open today at this same facility turned out to be a raging homophobe. He was exposing himself in public, urinating on his left front wheel, and as we pass their truck we both gave him 'what the fuck was that weird behavior' looks from inside our truck.

we got stuck in line waiting to leave the facility in front of him. he came up to our truck pounding on her window yelling "fucking dykes" at us giving us the finger. he ran away quickly when he saw me take my camera out but then came back with his own camera but then ran away when Valkyrie took hers out to film him. you can see in the pictures that when he notices me with my camera out he's sidling to hide behind a trailer.

I called the safety department of their company, "first choice transport" out of fort worth, Texas, after we got screamed at and before the offenders flagged down a yard worker. To the company's credit, the person I spoke with said that it would be his next call to speak with the offending guy. I didn't see anybody take a phone call while the rest of this played out, but that doesn't mean it won't be addressed appropriately.

the yard worker they flagged down to tell their concocted story about us cutting them off when they were trying to pull out (nobody was behind the wheel of the truck when this happened) asked us if we had filmed him screaming slurs. we had not, but we did tell him that there was going to be evidence in the form of a piss puddle on their front wheel.

after all this, the line finally moved and we were able to pull up and away. luckily the line had gotten longer behind us, so hopefully they are still boxed in and we won't have to see them again before leaving.

valkyrie has to leave the truck to go get her papers for this load, and asked me to stay behind to film it in case the guy comes and tries to mess with our truck. I'm going to be extremely worried until she gets back safe and sound.

I was just watching something the other day about how the insults that people throw at you are the things that they are, insecure about themselves. This guy felt disgusting about himself when we called him out for being horribly disgusting in public (using body language). he decided to throw that back at us by because he thinks that lesbians are gross, displaying his deep insecurities about his own behavior. He's probably living like a dog in that truck, not taking care of his hygiene, pissing wherever he wants, etc, and feels subhuman about it. as he should. treating a busy truck yard like your own personal toilet/locker room is not okay.

anyways. enjoy these pics of mundane evil out here in colorado today